Businesses and other commercial establishments often utilize content management systems to manage items such as documents, images, files, etc. For example, a world wide insurance company manages a tremendous volume of items. Utilizing a content management system is critical for efficiently controlling the flow of items within the insurance company. A workflow process controls the flow of items.
Workflow processes comprise a set of nodes; each node represents a point at which an item requires processing. Using an insurance company as an example, an insurance claim for damages to an automobile may require processing by a claims generating node to accumulate items into a claims file, an adjustor to estimate the cost of repairs, a claims processor to compare the cost of repairs to terms in the insurance policy, and an account representative to authorize payment, for example, for repairs to the automobile and use of a rental vehicle by the client. The claim generator, the adjustor, the claims processor, and the payment authorization are each nodes in the workflow process. The content management system manages a migration of the insurance claim from node to node within the workflow process.
Although conventional workflow management by a content management system has proven to be useful, it would be desirable to present additional improvements. Conventional workflow management comprises moving an item from one node to a next node without regard to properties of the item. Rather than being targeted to a physical destination based on properties of the item or characteristics of the target destination, the item is routed based on a predetermined workflow. Only one location is identified with each node in the workflow. Logically, the item may be routed to a location on the other side of the world. In actuality, the user to which the item is routed is required to fetch the item from a current location.
Additionally, conventional workflow routing deposits the item at one location for a node. Users associated with that node may reside in disparate locations or manage different aspects of the workflow. Consequently, users with different skills or expertise are required to fetch their items from the same node. This approach is inefficient, slow, and time-consuming for the users of the workflow process.
Returning to the example of a workflow process for an insurance company, the claims processing facility for automobiles may be in Atlanta while the claims processing facility for houses is in Dallas. Conventional workflow processes route the claim to a claims adjusting node. The adjustor for automobile claims in Atlanta is required to fetch the claim from the claims adjusting node. However, the adjustor for automobile claims may be very busy due to an unexpected increase in auto accidents. The adjustor for house claims may be available to help with the automobile workload, but the conventional workflow process has no capability for adjusting workflow based on characteristics of the adjustors.
What is therefore needed is a system, a service, a computer program product, and an associated method for migrating an item within a workflow process. Such a method would improve efficiency and response time of a workflow process by migrating items to an optimum location selected from a set of candidate locations. The selection of the optimum location is based on properties associated with the items and characteristics of the node or user to which the item is routed. For example, an item may be routed to different locations within a division based on the skills of the users or workload of the user that will be processing the item. The need for such a solution has heretofore remained unsatisfied.